Final A.B.V

Depends on the type/condition of your yeast and the fermentation temps and S.G. so hard to say but I would let it go at least another 7 days. Most of my beers avg 14-21 days and are mostly ales.

 

Why would anyone rack to a 2ndary after seven days?

 

Sometimes I do in combination with a cold crash to help clear the beer. Also, transferring to a smaller secondary (5 gal vs. 6.5 gal primary) results in less surface area on the top and less chance for oxidation.

 

OP - you could transfer to secondary, leave it in primary for another week, or most likely go head and bottle. I say most likely because we don't know what style, OG, etc. you are brewing. You mentioned you are at the target FG so you are probably good to go but some additional details may help get better answers.

EDIT - I see you posted that it is a brown ale as I was responding. I would guess your yeast is finished, especially at 75. They should have been very active in that range. Some additional time in primary or secondary may help 'clean' up your beer prior to bottling.

 

Please read this before you make a decision.

 

If the temperature was 75°F and the hydro was 1.012, then the gravity wasn't 1.012.

 

Transferring to a secondary does provide less head space, but the act of transferring alone introduces oxygen into the beer, which in turn leads to oxidation. In a larger primary vessel, fermentation produces CO2 and drives out most, if not all, oxygen in the head space. There is much less chance of oxidation just letting the beer sit in the primary.

 

due to calibration temperature of the hydrometer. it is actually 1.014 if your sample was 75F. Just leave it in the fermentor for a week and bottle with the appropriate priming sugar or keg. Don't sweat it.

 

You have to correct the gravity reading for the temperature at which it is taken. The warmer the beer (or wort), the higher the true gravity actually is. If your beer was reading 1.012 at 75F, the real OG is actually 1.013. It's mostly splitting hairs near room temp though. You can find online calculators that do this for you. I use the one at brewersfriend.com.

 

If you do all grain or partial mash brewing, then yes. If you're doing extract, the hydrometer is all you need. Plus, hydrometer's don't work after fermentation because the alcohol messes with the accuracy. There's an equation to convert accurately, but using the hydrometer post-fermentation is easier.

 

You can do closed transfers under CO2. How do you think the pros do it?

 

Why would a refractometer be needed for all grain/partial mash but not for extract? I would say there's no difference in utility arising from the type of batch.

I think you meant to say refractometers don't work after fermentation. But of course there are calculators to correct that, as you pointed out. I disagree that hydrometers are easier. A refractometer takes 2 drops of wort/beer and 3 seconds to read.

 

Actually, you're both right. Neither a hydrometer nor a refractometer works after fermentation. The refractometer because alcohol affects the refractive index, the hydrometer because alcohol lowers the specific gravity. We ignore the hydrometer's inaccuracy and just use the numbers it gives us because ...well, we just do. OTOH, we dwell on the refractometer's inaccuracy because ...beats the hell out of me! (I'm most amused by the fact that the calculations we use convert the refractometer's 'inaccurate' reading into an approximation of a hydrometer's 'inaccurate' reading.

Either one will get the job done if used correctly. A refractometer just gets the job done quicker and easier, IMO, and with less waste. (and if you're like many of us, you won't need to replace it as often, so it's a far cry cheaper, too!)

I would add that, since it only takes a drop or two, a refractometer is a far better choice if you make small batches.

 

We ignore this in the sense that we don't calculate a correction and then enter that corrected number into some ABV formula.
But the ABV formulae don't ignore this (i.e. they do the correction internally). And the more accurate versions of the formulae do a better job of not ignoring it than the simplest versions.

 

Very few people I know use the 'more accurate' versions of the formulae, choosing, instead, to stick with (OG-FG)*131, which becomes increasingly inaccurate as OG rises. Unfortunately, the 'more accurate' versions are not pencil and paper friendly. So, while you're correct that some ABV formulae don't ignore this, the most popular ones do.